Jens Pöhland joined Mizuho 12 years ago and has spent the last 10 in his current role as the Chief Risk and Financial Officer and executive board member at Mizuho Bank Europe N.V.. We caught up with Pöhland to talk about Mizuho in the Netherlands and the future of financial services.
Established in 1974, Mizuho Bank Europe N.V. has been providing financial services to Japanese and non-Japanese clients in the region for over 49 years. Mizuho Bank Europe N.V. is a 100% subsidiary of Mizuho Bank Ltd., which in turn is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Mizuho Financial Group.
“The trade relationship between the Netherlands and Japan goes back more than 400 years” says Pöhland. “Mizuho was primarily established here to support and service the Japanese corporates in the Netherlands.”
Since establishment, the Amsterdam office has grown to over 120 colleagues from 29 different nationalities. “We’re now also serving non-Japanese corporates who trade in Asia, supporting our clients’ ambitions in Asia and forging new relationships between Dutch and Japanese firms.”
An international mindset
Pöhland, who is half Norwegian, half German, started his career at the Dutch Central Bank and went on to work as Legal counsel for various institutions, including NYSE Euronext and The Bond Market Association.
“The foreign banks here in the Netherlands are playing a very important role in making the landscape more competitive and diverse”
Jens Pöhland,
Chief Risk and Financial Officer,
Mizuho Bank Europe N.V.
“As a young professional, my first job at the Dutch Central Bank was really mind-opening,” he reminisces. “The diligence and learning that professional trade was a good start. I also had a very interesting time meeting Wim Duisenberg, first president of the ECB, when I was in Frankfurt, allowing me to give direct advice to senior executives in an international setting as a very young professional. I still look back at that as a moment that I will never forget.”
Next to his Chief Risk and Financial Officer role, Pöhland is also the co-chair and the board member of the Foreign Bankers’ Association in the Netherlands.
“The foreign banks here in the Netherlands are playing a very important role in making the landscape more competitive and diverse” says Pöhland. “We all service different pockets and different niche markets.”
As a global bank, headquartered in Japan, Pöhland points out he has noticed subtle differences between eastern and western institutions. “In Europe we have this general tendency that the customer is king. What surprised me when I joined Mizuho is that, that notion goes much, much deeper and is more felt in a Japanese organisation than a westernised financial institution.”
“We want to ensure that we maintain a very good reputation here in the Netherlands, not only towards the regulator, but also particularly towards our customers and society at large,” he summarises.
The future of financial services
Pöhland, who lives in Bloemendaal with his husband and adopted daughter from the US, is a passionate advocate of promoting inclusion and diversity within the financial service industry.
“We sometimes forget to listen to better understand. We need people to open up, listen and be inclusive of the different opinions that are being held,” says Pöhland.
“As a leader within the bank and in the financial sector as well, I am always thinking about how to facilitate change and encourage people to think differently.”
Jens Pöhland,
Chief Risk and Financial Officer,
Mizuho Bank Europe N.V.
“The financial service industry has always been about driving an economy and supporting an economy,” adds Pöhland who is also a passionate advocate of serving customers and is well aware of the role financial services play in society.
“ESG is something that is going to involve us all and is very much part of our business model” he explains. “As a leader within the bank and in the financial sector as well, I am always thinking about how to facilitate change and encourage people to think differently.”
When asked about the transition to a carbon neutral economy, he is very clear on what is needed. “We need the young energetic people, we need the true believers of ESG and the real understanding of climate change,” says Pöhland. “You see the engagement and mobilisation of the younger people when it comes to taking care of the planet.”
Pöhland argues that financial services will be at the forefront of this transition. “I want young people to come into the industry and really engage with the change that is needed.”